Air Force seeks to be fly on the wall with new drones

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Everyone has either heard or uttered the old cliche, “I wish I could have been a fly on the wall during that conversation.” The United States Air Force has taken that statement to heart, and has been working on miniature remote controlled drones that resemble a flying insect. With the ability to capture audio and images, this new drone could be the ultimate in spy technology.

Military and civilian scientists at the Air Force Research Laboratory came up with the concept while researching how to create unique winged drones that resemble nature’s creations. The goal was to create a bird-like drone that would flap its wings realistically to avoid detection by enemy forces during surveillance operations. With miniaturization technology constantly getting more advanced, the lab was able to create a drone that fits on the pad of a finger as pictured above. Operating much like the Predator attack drones, the “Fly-Bot” is controlled by a trained pilot from a remote terminal. The aviator has full command of the drone, and can maneuver it into groups of real insects to hide, while a live feed is piped into the command center.

The potential for this technology to be weaponized is limitless. Give the drone the ability to release a small amount of gas, or pack a high-powered mini-explosive inside its body and you have something to be feared above just surveillance. A swarm of these invading a building then detonating would bring new meaning to the phrase “smart-weapon.”

The Air Force used a room with cameras that can track the movements of small airborne objects to within a tenth of an inch, allowing them to make the adjustments necessary to make the drone possible. A video from the Research Lab is below that outlines the work going on there.